Here’s How One OCD Survivor Handles the Storms

If you have OCD, most likely you have experienced a storm or two (or ten). You know that OCD storms come in cycles and they change like the weather. Sometimes OCD is a small cloud, and sometimes it comes spinning into town like a tornado. I’ve had many OCD storms, several that knocked me off my feet, but I’ve learned that even when a storm knocks me down, I still have the choice to get back up, no matter how damaged or broken I feel.

When a storm blows through town you have two choices, lay there and wish it never happened to you, or get up dust off and deal with what is happening around you. Sometimes the clean up takes longer then we want it to. Often it feels like a waiting game, but if we don’t put in the time now, the next storm that comes through will hit even harder. We can’t stop a storm, just like we can’t stop OCD thoughts but we can choose how we react.

I am reminded of this choice everyday, what starts as a tiny cloud can easily take over the entire sky if I let it. There is so much in our lives both with OCD and without OCD that we can’t control, however I’ve learned we can control how we view our circumstances. How we view our circumstances gives us the power back. When we approach life with a grateful heart, we are more positive and kind to ourselves and others.

Maybe life with OCD doesn’t seem ideal. Maybe you’re stuck feeling like it’s not fair that you’re suffering from OCD. Maybe it seems like no one understands the hell you are in. OCD can make you feel like a victim of your own brain, but it doesn’t have to. As strange as it sounds I have found several reasons to be grateful for my OCD.

-Having OCD has given me the opportunity to meet some of the strongest and most compassionate people on earth

4 thoughts on “Here’s How One OCD Survivor Handles the Storms”

Something OCD has given me?
OCD gives me a daily opportunity to strengthen my OCD muscles, to say NO, to redirect my focus, to say, “what’s the worst that’ll happen?’ “is it likely?”
And then I can walk away, and say, “Take that OCD, I’ve got more important things to deal with right now.”
Not everyday, is it as easy. But on those days when I can assert myself, if feels good. I am empowered. “Thank you, OCD.”